About Timber Unlimited

Timber Unlimited, formerly Timber Design Centre^TM, is an industry-neutral, non-commercial non-profit, founded to encourage and facilitate the use of timber in the design and construction of all building and infrastructure projects. Our particular focus is on the commercial, industrial, public, and multi-story sectors.

We are focused on championing timber to build a better future for New Zealand by:

• Enabling New Zealand to embrace low-carbon timber construction.
• Demonstrating timber as a practical, sustainable and viable construction material for New Zealand.
• Accelerating the uptake of timber in construction relative to alternative materials

Providing an innovative and inspiring resource to help the industry unlock the potential of timber.

As the country’s go-to timber resource, we provide all the timber design information and knowledge in one place, empowering the industry to build better.

Everything we do is to minimise the time and cost of gaining the capability, competence and confidence to find new ways of building with timber by:

• Championing the reasons and benefits of using timber.
• Educating and providing guidance to upskill and build capacity.
• Addressing barriers and helping solve problems.
• Showcasing inspiring innovation and demonstrating it can be done with timber.
• Facilitating collaboration and connections to help share and grow knowledge, skills and techniques across the industry.
• Building a thriving community of timber enthusiasts where we can bring like-minded individuals together for the greater good.

Whoever you are across the timber and construction value chain and wherever you are on your timber learning journey, we are here to inspire you with the endless possibilities of timber in the built environment.

Because we are striving for a future where:

• Building asset owners and property developers commission more timber buildings.
• Design professionals specify timber in building designs as routine.
• Builders and contractors have the skills and knowledge to construct high-quality timber buildings.
• The public widely understands the benefits of building with timber.

Timber Unlimited is managed by the New Zealand Timber Design Society Incorporated (NZTDS) and is an industry-neutral, non-commercial, not-for-profit initiative helping New Zealand’s design and construction industry build a lower-carbon future with timber. 

Officially launched in March 2022, Timber Unlimited was established through initial funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). We are grateful to MPI and the contributions of the original consortium of BRANZ, New Zealand Timber Design Society Incorporated (NZTDS), Scion and WPMA, who were part of Timber Unlimited’s establishment.

Timber Unlimited exists to build belief in the possibilities of timber in the built environment, and to make it easier to choose and use more timber in building and infrastructure projects, with a particular focus on the commercial, industrial, public and multi-storey sectors.

Through its online hub of research, guidance, tools, case studies and real-world examples, it brings together expertise from across the value chain, giving busy project teams fast access to the knowledge they need—from understanding how timber performs and where it adds value, to integrating it effectively from early design through to delivery on site.

The Timber Design Awards are a natural extension of this role: a way to showcase what’s already being achieved, recognise those leading the way, and share insights that can help the wider industry accelerate its use of timber.

Central to this is the belief that shifting to a culture of using timber in all buildings will provide long-term demand for wood products, which will support greater investment in domestic wood processing of NZ harvested logs, assist New Zealand’s transition to a low greenhouse gas emissions economy, and assist asset owners in developing lower emissions and higher value proposition buildings. 

Timber is a renewable resource that sequesters carbon dioxide and is sustainable, viable and locally supplied. So, the more it’s used, the faster the nation can transition to a lower-carbon reality.

We are passionate about building a better future for both the construction industry and New Zealand as a whole.